Divorce option may be harder to reach under covenant bill in Alabama Legislature

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- A couple in Alabama could choose to enter into a "covenant marriage" that would require premarital counseling and also make it harder for the couple to divorce, under a plan facing review in the state Senate.

A "no-fault divorce" for incompatibility or for breakdown of the marriage, options available under Alabama law, would not be available for couples choosing the covenant marriage option. Couples still could get married under Alabama's current marriage law if the plan, Senate Bill 270 by Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, were to take effect.

Supporters said a covenant marriage law would let couples pick an option that could foster longer-lasting marriages.

"We're asking for folks to consider, at their own option, whether or not they want to take the extra steps to preserve and protect their marriage," Williams said. "This is a great opportunity to be pro-family."

Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, said the bill calls for couples who opt for covenant marriage to get marital counseling before getting a divorce, to "see if the differences can be resolved."

"Anything we can do to strengthen the family ... would be a step in the right direction," said Allen, a co-sponsor of the bill.

Opponents said the bill would create an unneeded intrusion by government into people's private lives.

"When people take vows, I think everyone that goes into it basically goes into it for a long term. But things happen," said Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham. "So are we going to force people to stay together?"

Another opponent said the bill could endanger a wife in a covenant marriage who, seeking a divorce under the bill, gave a judge proof of abuse by her husband.

"Batterers often want to keep domestic violence a secret, and they'll tell their victim, 'If you tell anybody, I'll kill you.' This bill, to get divorced, forces a victim to tell instead of just getting out of the marriage. There is no fix for that," said Carol Gundlach, executive director of the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence based in Montgomery.

For a couple choosing the covenant marriage option, under Senate Bill 270:

• They would have to get premarital counseling from a clergy member or marriage counselor. The couple and counselor would have to file notice of the counseling with the probate judge or other official issuing the marriage license.

• They would have to sign a declaration of covenant marriage, which among other things would say, "We have chosen each other carefully and disclosed to one another everything which could adversely affect the decision to enter into this marriage."

• Once married, they would have to get marital counseling before getting a divorce, except that if one spouse refused repeated requests to attend counseling, the spouse seeking a divorce could submit a sworn affidavit to cancel that requirement.

• Neither the husband nor wife could seek a divorce for "complete incompatibility of temperament" or for the "irretrievable breakdown of the marriage," two of many grounds for divorce under Alabama law for marriages that aren't "covenant marriages."

With a covenant marriage, a husband or wife could get a judgment of divorce in Alabama only upon proof of:

• Adultery by the other spouse.

• A felony conviction of the other spouse.

• Abandonment of the home for at least a year by the other spouse.

• Physical, emotional or sexual abuse by the other spouse or the spouse seeking the divorce, or of a child of one of the spouses.

• The spouses living apart "without reconciliation" for at least two years.

• The spouses living apart "without reconciliation" for at least one year after a legal separation, or for as long as 18 months after a legal separation with minor children involved.

Williams said he patterned his bill after the covenant marriage law passed in Louisiana in 1997. Of the 373,068 marriages performed in Louisiana in 2000 through 2010, statistics from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals show that 3,964, about 1 percent, were covenant marriages and the rest were "traditional" marriages. Williams said he wasn't put off by that statistic.

"That's 1 percent that won't go to a no-fault divorce," Williams said. He said covenant marriage was "just another option that's out there to protect marriage."

Gundlach said requiring a victim of domestic violence to attend counseling with the other spouse before getting a divorce could endanger the battered person, as could requiring an abused spouse to provide proof of abuse to get a divorce.

"As long as there's such a thing as covenant marriage, there's no getting around the fact that it's dangerous," she said. "It's going to put a victim in a situation of putting her life in danger by telling or putting her life in danger by staying in the relationship."

Williams said he has talked with Gundlach. "I'm going to work with her and make sure we've mitigated her concerns as much as possible," Williams said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has had the bill on its agenda for several weeks now, but hasn't voted on it. Williams said he hopes the committee will vote on it Wednesday. But committee co-chairman Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said he was in no hurry for a vote.

"There are some legitimate concerns out there," he said. "I want to make sure they get addressed."